Weekend Box Office: The Hobbit Holds Top Spot As A Weak 2014 Comes To A Close

The post-Christmas weekend, which is also the last of 2014, saw a nice boost for most movies and some exceptional openings for the newcomers. It paints a good picture for the weekend, but it wasn't enough to dig the 2014 box office out of its major slump.

2014 is looking to wrap up around the $10.3 billion mark, down more than 5% from 2013 and one of the lowest totals of the past decade. It's not the first dip in recent history. Sales in 2011 took a similarly sharp drop but recovered the following year, jumping back to bigger sales than 2010.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies held the top spot, and was one of only two movies in the top ten to drop instead of increase from last weekend, slipping a modest 25%. Its strong start has begun to slip, leaving it unlikely to catch the $300 million domestic total of the first Hobbit film An Unexpected Journey. But it may yet stay ahead of the second entry The Desoluation of Smaug's $258 domestic total.

Unbroken and Into the Woods debuted at second and third place respectively, with $31 million each. That gives Into The Woods the highest ever opening for a Broadway musical conversion, topping 2012's Les Miserables and 2008's Mamma Mia!, both of which opened at $27 million. Unbroken, penned by the Coen Brothers (who are usually known for writing and directing their own material), marks the first wide-release film directed by Angelina Jolie. $31 million is a respectable start.

Mark Wahlberg's latest offering The Gambler debuted at number seven with $9 million while Benedict Cumberbatch led The Imitation Game expanded from small release to hit number eight with $7 million.